I know someone who has one and they love it, but like many tablets the speakers are not that powerful. At home with little background noise they're great but any place with a bit of ambient noise and you'll struggle to hear it. I have a bluetooth speaker that sounds great and makes watching movies far more enjoyable.

Does ipad not have plex app?
I f it does before you go away you could download the content you wish to watch to your pc/laptop andset it up as a plex media server it will work outside of your home but you will need your ipad connected to the internet.
If not then the Amazon fire 10 hd is a great tablet also the nexus 7 2nd generation is good too you might get one cheap from cex or ebay.

Does the Amazon fire still have all those content restrictions the old Kindles used to have? Can you download programs and content from the general Google Play store, or must they come from Amazon? That would be a big negative for me.

Does the Amazon fire still have all those content restrictions the old Kindles used to have? Can you download programs and content from the general Google Play store, or must they come from Amazon? That would be a big negative for me.

Yes, it does - although you can side load the PlayStore and then use that to download on there so you can download anything.

Does the Amazon fire still have all those content restrictions the old Kindles used to have? Can you download programs and content from the general Google Play store, or must they come from Amazon? That would be a big negative for me.

Most apps are in the Amazon Store anyway. As above, putting the Google Play app on is not a big deal.

Does the Amazon fire still have all those content restrictions the old Kindles used to have? Can you download programs and content from the general Google Play store, or must they come from Amazon? That would be a big negative for me.

I use VLC on my Amazon file. Plays back pretty much any file and the files can be stored on local memory or SD card regardless of their source. I know OP is using Amazon Prime and iPlayer but the fire table is 10x easier to transfer media from a PC compared to the iPad which I have.

For the tech minded, you can set up a Raspberry Pi as a media server for local content and if set up as an access point it's a cheap and very portable way of having a little server that you ban take anywhere. A bit off topic but may be useful for some to try who are running out of media space on their device.

Needs a USB power source but at the size of a pack of playing cards it's very convenient to carry about. You can get a kit that includes a case.